Cut flowers make us feel good. They help us celebrate special events
and communicate emotions by saying thank you, get well, I'm sorry, and
I love you.

Then there's the special joy of receiving flowers, whether it's a red
rose from the local florist or a fistful of dandelions from your daughter.
Flowers, especially the intention behind them, mean so much.

Unfortunately though, flowers wilt. Do you ever feel delighted to receive
beautiful flowers only to feel a little depressed as you watch them fade?
While you can't bring cut flowers back to life, here are some tips for
keeping them looking fresh longer. Let's start with learning the best
way to cut your own bouquets...

What's the best way to cut flowers?

Flowers keep best when cut with a sharp knife (un-serrated) and plunged
immediately into water. Always make a cut on a slant, as it exposes
more stem surface area. Also, remove leaves that will be under water
in the arrangement, but do not remove thorns from roses as it tends
to shorten their life.

Some people I know would say it's never a good time to cut flowers.
They prefer to enjoy them alive and in the garden. But if you do like
to cut them, the best time is early in the morning or late in the afternoon
when it has cooled. Morning is when the plant is filled with stored
food and the flowers are most fragrant. If you'd like to grow your own
flowers and bedding plants, you'll appreciate my easy-to-follow seed
starting tips.

Dianthus make great, long-lasting
cut flowers. Plus, they're edible!

Maturity also affects their keeping qualities. Cut roses, irises, daffodils
and gladiolas in bud stage. Marigolds, dianthus, and delphiniums should
be open. After cutting, immediately put flowers in lukewarm, not cold,
water. (See more tips below). Cut the stem on a slant and remove any
leaves that will be submerged in the vase.

The
flower stem is filled with cells that work like a bundle of soda straws.
As long as the bottom of the straws are submerged, you can draw water
up through them. But pull the straws out of the glass while sucking
on them and all you get is air.

Flowers do the same thing. Their demand for water is continuous, even
when they're cut away from the mother plant. The difference is that
cells in the stem have tiny screens that allow water to pass, but not
air. So, when the flower stem is cut, a small air bubble forms at the
end of the stem and is trapped. This acts like a barrier and prevents
more water from getting up the stem -- even if you replace the stem
in water.

Why did my red roses wilt so fast?

While it may have been caused by excessive warm or dry storage conditions,
you can pretty much blame wilted roses on air bubbles and bacteria.
To prevent air bubble blocks, make a new stem-end cut while holding
it in water. A small droplet of water will cling to the stem end as
you transfer the rose to the vase. This prevents the bubble from re-forming.
As to how bacteria causes flowers to wilt, read on.

When a flower is cut from the mother plant, it is separated from
its life support system. Just like an astronaut without a temporary
life support system -- it's in trouble. Thus, nearly all commercial
floral preservatives contain the basic components of the life support
system for the cut flower: a biocide (explained below), an acidifier,
and sugar.

Biocides are chemicals that kill the bacteria, yeasts and fungi that
feed on the sap that seeps from the cut flower stem. It's an amazing
sequence of events: You cut a rose stem and place it in a vase of water.
Bacteria start to grow, and within 3 hours, there are 30 million bacteria
in the vase! These bacteria plug the tiny straw-tubes that conduct water
to the flower. As a result, buds fail to open, necks weaken and bend,
and leaves wilt. The acid helps water move up the stem more easily and
the sugar acts as a flower food.

Put
a penny in the vase: Wives' tale or real solution?

If
you don't like to use chemicals to prolong the life of your cut flowers,
there are "natural" alternatives. Some methods work better than others.
Here's one for you: does a penny and an aspirin tablet placed in the vase
water really do any good? Some say the combination does keep flowers fresh
longer. The theory is that the copper acts a fungicide and the aspirin makes
the water more acidic. Here are more food + acid combinations:

Add one part lemon-lime soda (not diet) to 3 parts water. Then to
each quart of this solution, add 1/4 teaspoon bleach. Thereafter, add
1/4 teaspoon bleach after each 4 days of use.

Use plain, lukewarm water for most cut flowers, but use cold water
for bulb flowers, such as daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips.

Change the water every 2 days -- don't just top it off. This is
the single most effective thing you can do to keep your flowers looking
fresh.

Keep flowers out of direct sunlight, and move them to a cool place
at night.

Give daffodils their own vase -- daffodil stems give off a compound
that is toxic to other flowers.

Keep cut flowers away from fruit, which releases a gas that causes
flowers to age faster.

What
do do with faded blooms

First of all, don't throw them away. At the very least, cut them up and
add them to the compost pile. Semi-fresh or partially
faded flowers, depending on how you look at them, also have a second life
in crafts and as edible flowers. Just remember, if you're planning to use
them in food, make sure they are truly edible and free of chemicals. You
can learn more about edible flowers in my How to
Landscape with Edible Plants article.

Dry flowers and petals for use in sachets, wreaths, and aromatherapy
projects.

Bake edible flowers such as roses and calendula in cakes, breads and
cookies. For a 9 x 13-inch cake, fold 2 cups loosely packed petals into
the batter.

Press flowers for making personalized note cards.

Add flowers to herbal vinegars.

Preserve edible flowers (viola, pansies) in sugar and use them to
decorate cakes.